Smoothing the way

Fraught matching adjustment applications push more firms towards transitionals

In recent months bankers and consultants serving the industry have said they are surprised by the number of UK insurers preparing applications to use the Solvency II transitional measures, with as many as half of the leading annuity providers changing their plans according to some commentators.

The sense of surprise comes for two reasons. On one hand, UK firms were expected largely to rely on the matching adjustment (MA), which would render the use of transitionals irrelevant. On the other, many